Pubdate: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Rob Shaw, Times Colonist B.C. AUDITOR FED UP WITH SEX, DRUGS ON DOORSTEP Coincidently, van Iersel to audit province's strategy on homeless Addicts are having sex and shooting up drugs outside the downtown Victoria office of the B.C. auditor general, and he -- like many others -- is fed up with the situation. In a tersely worded letter to Victoria city council and police, Arn van Iersel expressed his "great concern" over safety issues in and around the alleys of Bastion Square, and said the number of police must be increased in the area. "Just last week we had a couple fornicating outside our training room," writes van Iersel in a letter dated Feb. 13. "We also again had people shooting up drugs outside our back door. This is not the workplace I or my staff would like to have, and certainly not the image we want to have about Victoria." In an interview yesterday about the letter, van Iersel revealed his office will soon start an audit of the provincial government's homeless strategy -- although he said the two issues aren't related. The auditor general's role is to conduct independent audits of the government to see how efficiently it is running programs and spending taxpayer money. In the letter, Van Iersel asked the city to consider more surveillance cameras, and noted the building's landlord has hired someone to pick up syringes every day. "While this is a help, I think what we need is more of a police presence," he wrote. The office has been located in Bastion Square for the past 30 years. Van Iersel admitted the drug and homelessness problems, which have been raised repeatedly by other Bastion Square businesses, are not exactly new to the area and are large social problems faced outside Victoria as well. However, staff who used to enter the office through a back door near the parkade now feel their safety is at risk, he said. Many are worried about stepping on one of the syringes or being confronted when alone, he said. In a reply to van Iersel, city administration manager Sheryl Masters wrote that Victoria faces "some complex social issues" in the downtown core but is working with numerous groups to make things better. She wrote that the city hopes to reduce addiction, street urination and nuisance problems by improving lighting, cleaning and emergency shelters, changing its graffiti and panhandling bylaws, and adding more police to the area. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine